Pakistan committee on aviation probes controversial flight from India, police report for pilots
Pakistan’s Senate Standing
Committee on Aviation is to set up a sub-committee to investigate the flight of
a chartered plane that arrived in Pakistan from India and then flew to the gulf
emirate amid allegations of smuggling cash.
The matter was raised during a
meeting of the committee in Islamabad on Wednesday.
The meeting chaired by Senator
Hidayatullah was attended by senators as well as high officials of Civil
Aviation Authority (CAA), Airport Security Force (ASF), and Pakistan
International Airlines (PIA) among others.
Controversial chartered flight from India
The meeting discussed the issue
of a chartered flight that arrived in Pakistan from India on August 15, 2022.
The CAA chief confirmed to the
committee that the chartered flight did indeed fly into Pakistan from India and
landed at Karachi airport.
He added that three crew members
were on board while it picked up 12 passengers from Karachi. These passengers
included two American nationals and 10 Pakistanis. The flight then departed
Pakistan, heading to the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Senator Saifullah Abro, who had
raised the matter, alleged that the flight was used to launder money with bags
of cash loaded onto it.
The committee subsequently decided to form a sub-committee
to further investigate the matter.
Police report for pilots
Discussing the requirement for obtaining police clearance
reports for pilots and crew members, ASF chief Maj Gen Asif told the committee
that this practice was first witnessed at Islamabad airport, but it has now
been stopped.
He added that the authority has now issued a letter on the
matter.
Trunk routes
Reviewing the policy on the trunk and socio-economic routes,
the CAA chief told the committee that per the existing policy, Pakistani
airlines have to acquire a Regular Public Transport licence to conduct flight
operations. This licence, he said, was valid for two years.
The requirement for the licence is the loss-free paid
capital of Rs300 million for the issuance of and renewal of the licence.
Further, the airline must have three aircraft to run domestic operations.
The policy further stipulates that Regular Public Transport
operators must serve a minimum of two trunk routes and operate five percent of
capacity floated on primary and socio-economic routes separately.
When Senator Hidayatullah asked how many domestic airlines
comply with these requirements, the CAA chief said that only PIA was fulfilling
these requirements. At this, Senator Saleem Mandviwalla remarked that this
showed that the policy was a complete failure.
The committee, however, deferred the matter for further
deliberation until the next meeting.
High-rise buildings around airports
Discussing the issue of rapid construction of high-rise
buildings and encroachment activities around the airport, the CAA chief said
that the issue was mostly faced in Karachi.
He added that they have written to the Sindh Development
Authority about the matter while a letter has also been sent to the Sindh Chief
Secretary.
PIA losses
Reviewing the losses suffered by the national flag carrier, the senate committee was briefed by Foreign Office on the lack of flights to China, the UK and Europe. Officials of the foreign office told the committee that the matter had been taken up at various international forums. They added that they expect the European Union to pay an on-site visit next year. The visit was previously expected in November.